Huge increase in electric vehicles charging in the US

Americans are taking to their electric vehicles (EV) in droves, according to data released by charging network EVgo.

In 2017, the company’s stations charged a record 40 million miles of electric driving, an increase of nearly double the 22 million miles in the previous year.

The EVgo network is reportedly the largest public network of fast charging stations in the US, providing 1,000 points for people to fill up on emissions-free fuel. 2017 also saw a 20 percent increase in the network and a record 1.1 million sessions; a 50 percent rise from 2016. An average charge for a Tesla or Chevy Bolt now only takes 25 minutes.

The 13 million kilowatts hours delivered across its network helped prevent 9,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide and over 1 million gallons of gasoline.

"2017 was an extremely successful year for EVgo, and not only did we add the 1,000th charger to our network, but we also delivered more fast charging power to EV drivers than ever before, with a resulting impact of 1.6 million gallons of gasoline saved," said Cathy Zoi, EVgo's CEO. "We are extremely pleased to see such rapid growth not only of our network, but also of EV sales across the board, and we are proud to be at the center of this rapid change toward a more electrified world."

EVgo’s strong increase in demand for its services isn’t matched by the 26 percent rise in electric vehicle sales in the US. However, this is the opposite problem reported by Climate Action earlier this month when car group Indigo released data showing that charging points weren’t keeping up with EV sales in major markets around the world.

Two million electric vehicles were sold worldwide in 2016, but leading markets, such as the US, only managed to install hundreds of new charge points.